


Night Call

by Salmonellagogo



Series: Fem!Jay [2]
Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Always a Different Gender, F/M, Female Jason Todd, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-30
Updated: 2019-10-30
Packaged: 2021-01-13 04:41:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21238340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Salmonellagogo/pseuds/Salmonellagogo
Summary: It was only five thirty in the morning when Jay broke into the manor.





	Night Call

It was only five thirty in the morning when Jay broke into the manor — still within the short window of time during which Bruce might still be sleeping. 

Her boots thunked faintly against the hardwood floor as she landed inside, and immediately, she crouched down to unlace the straps of her boots, taking them off. One, and then the other. She reached out to pull the window shut and then laid out her boots neatly below it.Then, with quiet steps she continued her journey into the belly of the house. 

She put her hand out once she reached the corridor, sweeping her fingers along elegant wall trims. It’s all familiar to her. The scent of this place — earthy sandalwood furnitures, the muskiness of old wall panels, all of them teased the part in her brain that she had tried to bury. Memories that she had tried to forget at one point. 

They came back to her easily. She knew the steps and could have walked down this corridor with her eyes closed and reached her destination. 

The creak of the door opening was unavoidable no matter how silent she tried to be. The room she entered was dark. A single floor lamp casting warm shadow on a chaise and bookshelves lined with books beside it. There was no one sitting on the chaise, but Jay could hear his breath. Faint whispers of air coming from further down the room. 

Jay stepped inside, closing the door behind her with a soft thud. The breathing didn't stop nor stutter. And Jay began to entertain the thought that Bruce was perhaps truly sleeping. 

She licked her lip. A nervousness came to her. She wasn’t used to dealing with this feeling. She didn't know how to, when anger was so much easier for her — when throwing punches, screaming insults and dispensing cutting words came more naturally to her. 

One step forward. Another, then another. She fisted her hands. Bruce's room was still as ridiculously opulent as she remembered. Dark blue wall panellings were offset by a large bed. The bedside tables housed books and tablets and a glass of water. One of the tablets' screens still shone. 

If she had any plan to turn back, it was too late now. 

Bruce's eyes glinted in half light. He was sitting with his back propped against the headboard and looking straight at her. 

Bruce was in pain. That much was immediately clear, from the way he was inhaling and exhaling deep, even breath. 

"Jay." The way he said her name settled her back into a time when she would have had no hesitation walking closer to the bed, commanding Bruce to sleep and confiscating his gadgets, acting like she was the adult instead of Bruce. Bruce would say no to Alfred, but he would have listened to Jay. 

Now though, Jay swallowed hard. She shoved both her hands inside her jacket's pockets, fisting them and putting on a casual air, before stepping forward. 

"So, you're not dead." Nonchalance. 

Bruce broke eye contact. His gaze strayed downward. Ashamed, maybe. Guilty. 

Jay's nails dug into the palm of her hands. "That's good," she continued. "Means I can kill you myself."

The corners of Bruce's mouth twitched. He looked up again. There was no forthcoming answer, aside from a tiny self-deprecating smile. 

She felt like cursing. And after a few moments just standing there, she huffed out a soft breath. "Christ. You're useless."

"I am," Bruce said. 

Jay rolled her eyes, and walked to the bed. Because there was no choice other than that, right? Bruce was stupid and Jay was... god, she might be even more stupid. What was she even doing here?

"Why are you awake?" Jay sat on the edge of Bruce's bed, right beside his thigh. This close, she could feel the warmth of his body radiating to her, the lines of his face more pronounced and Jay could see the traces of sleepless nights there. 

"I can't sleep." Bruce was studying her as much as she was studying him it seemed. Suddenly she felt awkward and self conscious. 

She stood, reaching out to the nightstand. There was a glass of water and a tab of painkiller there, beside Bruce's various hi-tech tablets. She grabbed both, and shoved them to Bruce none too gently, a bit of water sloshed against her wrist and the sheets. 

"Take this, and drink. Can't you even take care of yourself?" she said. 

There was a pause. The deep blue of Bruce’s eyes unsettled her, made her feel things that she would rather not feel. She should have hated this man. But _why_, why was she here? 

Bruce didn't want her. Bruce abandoned her. 

Fuck. 

She swallowed and just when she was about to retract her hands — _screw _Bruce Wayne, she didn't care if the man took his medicine or not — Bruce moved. He took the painkiller from her, warm fingers brushing against her palm. 

His eyes never left hers as he put the medicine on his tongue and chased it down with water. 

Jay bit the inside of her lip. Then, trying to summon up her flippancy again, she said, "Good boy." 

The end of Bruce's eyes crinkled. He smiled and that, _that_ made Jay wanted to choke. She snatched the empty glass from Bruce, praying her hand didn't shake. 

"Okay. Guess now that I see you're still alive, I'm gonna leave you alone," she said. 

"Jay." He stopped her, putting his fingers above her retreating hand lightning quick. 

Jay could see the hesitation, hidden in the twitch of Bruce's index finger, lingering. Like he wanted to hold her hand but stopped himself. 

Jay glared at him. "What?"

"Stay with me," he said, like it was the easiest thing in the world. But he could see the strain in his eyes, the lines around his mouth deepening. 

Jay looked at him as if he was stupid. 

"No," she said. 

This time, without hesitation, without a look behind, she retracted her hand and turned around. 

The tether, the tempation to spare a last glance..., to maybe say yes was strong. Her heart pounded. Would Bruce look disappointed? Would he even care? 

Jay closed the bedroom door behind her back and traced her steps back to the window where she had entered from. 

It was hours later, after she had reached her safe house, changed to something more comfortable and huddling in front of her computer, tracking the movement of one of her eyes on the ground. Her phone chimed. Jay had never given him any of her ever changing numbers. But that hadn't ever stopped Batman from contacting her each time shit hit the fan in Gotham and all hands were needed on deck, and it didn't stop him tonight. 

_thank you. -B_

Jay snorted. God. She hated that little 'B' tacked at the end, as if that message could have been from anyone else. Her thumb hovered on 'delete', but in the end she left the message alone. 

**Author's Note:**

> I still have a few more to add to this. Find me on Twitter @salmonellagogo.


End file.
